Home > Dynamic Demand Challenge Prize set to tackle UK's power struggle

With ever increasing demands on the UK’s power grid – as highlighted by last week’s Ofgem report1 on tightening electricity margins – new ways of managing demand to shift electricity consumption from peak to off-peak times are needed.

To meet this need, Nesta, the UK's innovation foundation has today launched the Dynamic Demand Challenge Prize[1]. The Dynamic Demand Challenge Prize, run by Nesta's Centre for Challenge Prizes[2], aims to find new ways of shifting electricity use to off-peak times, reducing carbon emissions and better responding to demands on UK energy supplies.

The challenge prize aims to find new data-driven, demand side response-enabled products, technologies or services that reduce carbon emissions by shifting energy use to off peak times or towards renewable generation.

Incentives, financial support and expert guidance will be available for innovations that are shortlisted on the 'hack day' to be held later this year. A prize of £50,000 will be awarded for the solution that demonstrates the most significant impact over the course of the challenge.

A shift in demand: a demonstrable shift in demand to off peak times and / or towards renewable energy generation

Sustainability and scale: potential for scale and with market potential

Constance Agyeman, development manager, Nesta's Centre for Challenge Prizes, comments, "The Dynamic Demand Challenge Prize will support innovations that create a measureable shift in energy use. This is important because there is increasing demand on the UK's electricity supplies and we therefore need to find new ways to manage this. But to do so, we first need to know what solutions work, whether helpful data can be accessed and what solutions will have the most impact."

Nesta is running the challenge prize in partnership with the Centre for Carbon Measurement and the Department for Business Innovation and Skills.

Jane Burston, head of the Centre for Carbon Measurement at the National Physical Laboratory notes, "Climate change and a secure, clean energy supply are two of the biggest challenges of our time. Demand side response is a critical step in supporting the shift in supply towards renewable generation. This will only be successful with engaging tools and technologies we want to use in our homes and offices. This challenge prize is a great way to incentivise and catalyse innovation and raise awareness of the potential of demand side response to the public."

National Grid is a key sponsor of the challenge prize. Neil Hughes, head of technology, National Grid, explains, "We are delighted to support Nesta's Dynamic Demand Challenge Prize which will hopefully inspire some new innovative solutions for the growing market of demand management. Balancing the grid will become more complex as more renewable generation comes onto the system and our goal is to help new service providers understand those challenges and develop technologies to meet that growing need".

The challenge is open to entries from anyone across the European Union, but the solution must be applied within a UK context. Deadline for entry is 9 September 2013 and application is at dynamicdemand.nesta.org.uk

1. Ofgem report highlights the importance of government reforms to encourage more investment in generation (http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Pages/MoreInformation.aspx?file=27June2013.pdf&refer=Media/PressRel)

2. Dynamic demand, or demand side response (DSR), is the exchange of information between electronic devices, responding to signals from the grid directly or indirectly.

These products or technologies can either shift electricity consumption away from peak hours where electricity consumption is high, or enable greater usage of excess electricity generation from renewables.

Nesta's Centre for Challenge Prizes was launched in April 2012 and brings together the growing expertise and interest in challenge prizes. Challenge prizes, also called 'inducement' prizes, offer a reward to whoever can first, or most effectively, meet a defined challenge. www.nesta.org.uk/areas_of_work/challengeprizes

About Nesta and the challenge prize partners:

Nesta is the UK's innovation foundation. We help people and organisations bring great ideas to life. We do this by providing investments and grants and mobilising research, networks and skills. We are an independent charity and our work is enabled by an endowment from the National Lottery. Nesta Operating Company is a registered charity in England and Wales with a company number 7706036 and charity number 1144091. Registered as a charity in Scotland number SC042833. Registered office: 1 Plough Place, London, EC4A 1DE

Centre for Carbon Measurement at the National Physical Laboratory[4] : The National Physical Laboratory (NPL) is the UK's national measurement institute, which means it is a centre of excellence for accurate measurement, science and technology. The Centre for Carbon Measurement at NPL reduces uncertainties in climate data, provides the robust measurement that is required to account for, price and trade carbon emissions and helps develop and accelerate the take up of low carbon technologies.

National Grid[5] is one of the largest investor-owned energy companies in the world. We own and manage the grids that connect people to the energy they need, from whatever the source. In Britain and the north-eastern states of the US we run systems that deliver gas and electricity to millions of people, businesses and communities.